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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30073458">Only Human</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/oohwonwoo/pseuds/oohwonwoo'>oohwonwoo</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Falling In Love, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Sex, M/M, True Love, not really angst but super sappy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:08:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,169</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30073458</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/oohwonwoo/pseuds/oohwonwoo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, Eichi wasn't just the heir to the Tenshouin conglomerate. Sometimes he wasn't the president of Starmaker Productions. Sometimes he wasn't the leader of Fine. Sometimes he wasn't the catalyst of the war that wracked Yumenosaki Academy all those years ago. Sometimes, he was just Eichi. For Wataru, that was just enough.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hibiki Wataru/Tenshouin Eichi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>70</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Only Human</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>i just knew i had to write some romantic wataei... enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Eichi Tenshouin is only human. Painfully so. No matter what conglomerate he's from, no matter who he's hurt and how many lives he'd ruined, he was only human after all. He felt guilt. Regret. Pain. So much so that it choked him. It took over his body and ruined him. He'd vowed he'd never be vulnerable again, his skinny body and weak composition already throwing a kink into his plan. </p><p>Sometimes, Eichi wasn't just the heir to the Tenshouin conglomerate. Sometimes he wasn't the president of Starmaker Productions. Sometimes he wasn't the leader of <em>Fine</em>. Sometimes he wasn't the catalyst of the war that wracked Yumenosaki Academy all those years ago. Sometimes, he was just Eichi. For Wataru, that was just enough. </p><p>Sometimes Eichi would break down. After a long practice on a summer day, after Tori and Yuzuru had already left for their own dorm--leaving Wataru and Eichi to clean up their practice materials, Eichi fell to his knees, hand clutched to his chest, eyes blown wide and his back heaving with shallow breaths. </p><p>Wataru had dropped the speaker he was holding and immediately rushed to kneel at Eichi's side, one hand on his back and the other to his chest, ushering him to breath evenly and slowly. </p><p>By the time his breathing evens, his eyes are watery and his lip is quivering. He was only human. He could only take so much at once. Wataru's hands held steady to the boy until he eventually collapsed backwards into Wataru's chest, burying his face in the crook of Wataru's neck. They stayed like this for a while in silence while Eichi cried on his shoulder. </p><p>"It's not fair, Wataru" Eichi had said, meek, barely above a whisper. </p><p>Maybe it wasn't fair. Maybe if Eichi had been born into a different family, with a different body, he'd be okay. </p><p>Maybe it was fair. Maybe this is the divine retribution he gets for all the destruction he'd caused. </p><p> </p><p>::</p><p> </p><p>Despite the occasional breakdown or panic attack, Eichi wasn't always crushed by immense guilt. He sometimes smiled. He was happy every now and then. </p><p>The moments when Eichi smiles, genuine and real, his eyes shut and nose wrinkled, Wataru feels the most immense surge of love. He'd do anything for that smile. </p><p>Wataru can't exactly recall when he first realized he'd fallen in love with Eichi, but he remembers with exceptional clarity, the first time he caught a glimpse of his smile--a real smile.</p><p>It was in high school. Eichi sat in the student council room, alone, reading through the stack of proposals on his desk. Wataru had barged into the room unannounced and asked him to dance. It was quite random and quick, but Eichi had immediately agreed with a light chuckle. </p><p>The moment when Wataru spun him, their hands together above their heads, Eichi had laughed. Genuine. Real. His smile was blinding, beautiful. Wataru had felt his heart thump in his chest, so loud it traveled to his ears and filled his vision. </p><p> </p><p>::</p><p> </p><p>Shu constantly asked Wataru why he'd stuck with Eichi. The first time he asked, Wataru couldn't even formulate a genuine answer. Why <em>had</em> he stayed with Eichi? Perhaps he was so blinded by his light, his dreams, his intelligence. </p><p>The most recent time Shu asked, they were sitting in some bougie cafe, the pair sat at a table across from one another. Shu brushed his fingers through his Madomoiselle's hair as he chatted idly. </p><p>"I still never got an answer on why you stuck with Tenshouin," Shu sighed and hung his head with a click of his tongue. "I honestly can't see the appeal."</p><p>Wataru hummed softly as he sipped on his drink. He thought about it for a second. Why had he stuck with Eichi? The first thing he thought of was simply love. </p><p>Love. That's why he stuck with Eichi. He wasn't stupid, nor was he completely blinded by love. He had fallen for him. He'd completely fallen for him. He knew of Eichi's flaws, he loved them all. He loved every quirk of his personality and every emotion he felt. He loved everything about him. He loved Eichi's smile. He loved the way the boy felt in his arms. He loved the way it felt to hold him as he sobbed into his neck. He loved the way it felt to run his fingers up and down his body, placing light kisses down his chest, to his stomach, and over his hips. He loved those blue eyes and that blonde hair. He loved slow dancing and hand holding. He loved sleeping together and falling asleep together, a warm body pressed against his. He loved being able to come home to him. Just him. Not a place, but a person. A pair of open arms and a head of blonde hair.  </p><p>Wataru smiled to himself and shrugged his shoulders as he looked back up at Shu. </p><p>"Who knows?" Wataru  mused. Shu looked annoyed as he focused his gaze outside the window. </p><p>"<em>Incorrigible</em>," Shu muttered under his breath. </p><p> </p><p>::</p><p> </p><p>To love and to be loved was a wonderful feeling, Wataru had learned. </p><p>Eichi's love didn't always come verbally. It was shown through large bouquets of flowers at stage door after a big performance. It was shown through light kisses backstage before and after a live. It was shown in the sounds Eichi let out as they melded together in bed, mapping each other's bodies out again and again, despite already knowing each and every inch of one another. It was shown in buying an apartment together, creating a home together. </p><p> </p><p>::</p><p> </p><p>Eichi wasn't always innocent. He wasn't always kind. He wasn't always selfless and honest. </p><p>He was selfish. He was unkind. He was double faced and dishonest. Yet, underneath his selfish perseverance towards his goals, in the end, he was only human. He cried. He felt guilty. He knew the consequences of everything he'd done. He would come home, exhausted, breathing heavily, and Wataru would know. He knew exactly what to do. He knew to pick Eichi up and carry him to bed. To hold him. To whisper affirmations into his ear as he cried. </p><p>Wataru had never once excused anything Eichi had said or done. In a sense, he was guilty too. He was selfish. He kept Eichi to himself and excused him for his own sake. </p><p>Was Wataru not allowed to be selfish? Was he not allowed to be willing to sacrifice anything for the one he loved? He never thought too hard about it. Maybe not thinking about it was the right thing to do. Maybe <em>feeling</em> was the right thing to do. </p><p>All he knew is that it just felt right. As he held Eichi close to him, his arms wrapped around his waist, his chin hooked over Eichi's bony shoulder, breathing in the scent of his strawberry shampoo, it felt right. The pieces clicked together. This is where he was meant to be. Eichi was who he was meant to be with. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>yes i am projecting onto wataru. yes i am a hopeless romantic.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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